Portable devices, such as cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and in general, devices with wireless communication capabilities are becoming increasingly common. These portable devices have grown more complex over time, incorporating many features including, for example, MP3 player capabilities, photographing capabilities, web browsing capabilities, email capabilities, text messaging capabilities and the like.
The user of these portable devices, such as a cell phone incorporating web browsing, photograph taking, MP3 player, email and text messaging capabilities, range from teenagers to professionals. Often each user has his/her particular preferences in how the cell phone or PDA is set up. The set up may include display brightness, ring tone, ring volume, email notification, text notification, background display image, call forward, call volume, Bluetooth headset setup etc. For example, a teenager may prefer to have multiple set ups for different settings such as in school, at home, or at a party.
The teenager may prefer to have a unique music clip as ring tone, low volume, high power savings, and provocative background display while in school and amongst friends. However, the same person may prefer a traditional ring tone, low volume, moderate power savings (for playing games or playing music from MP3 player and a less distinct background display while at home. Similarly, the same person may want to have a silent ring tone and volume but using only vibration mode while keeping the same provocative background while in the library.
Typically, changing profile settings often require the user to make changes through the various menus in the user interface using the keypad when the phone is activated. For users who lead busy lives, such as professionals, who frequently transitions among different environments, like from a personal office into a meeting and into a public space, this method of changing profile settings becomes inconvenient. Users are often multi-tasking. Sometimes they simply do not even have minutes or even seconds to fidget with their phones to change profile settings suitable to the new environment or circumstances.
Consequent of the dynamic and fast paced lifestyle of users, a more convenient and less burdensome manner of changing user profile setting that can complement and keep up with the fast pace lifestyles is needed. There is a demand for a direct and simple manner in changing user profile on the fly without having to use the keypad and menus in the user interface.